APPENDIX
CAERAU WARD
NEIGHBOURHOOD RENEWAL ASSESSMENT
PROPOSAL FOR DECLARATION OF A HOUSING RENEWAL AREA
BRIDGEND COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL
Executive Summary
Geoffrey Cheason Associates
Katherine Hughes Associates
Lapider Ltd.
July 2006
CONTENTS
Subject Page
1 SUMMARY OF PROPOSAL 3
2 NEIGHBOURHOOD RENEWAL ASSESSMENT AREA 5
3 MEETING THE CRITERIA FOR NRA STATUS 6
4 SURVEY FINDINGS 7
5 RECOMMENDATION 9
6 APPROACH TO IMPLEMENTATION 9
7 NEXT STEPS 12
8 CONCLUSION 14
CAERAU NEIGHBOURHOOD RENEWAL
ASSESSMENT
1. SUMMARY OF PROPOSAL
1.1 Background
This Neighbourhood Renewal Assessment Study was undertaken by Geoffrey Cheason Associates in collaboration with Katherine Hughes Associates and Lapider Ltd. The Study was commissioned by Bridgend County Borough Council Housing & Community Wellbeing and comprised of a physical survey, data collection, analysis and wider consultation. The Assessment was undertaken in two phases; the first phase covered the north of the Caerau Ward and the second the south of the Ward. The survey and wider consultation was carried out during February to July 2006.
1.2 Neighbourhood Renewal Assessment
A neighbourhood renewal assessment provides evidence in support of declaring a housing renewal area, which forms part of the local authority’s Local Housing Strategy. Local authorities are required to periodically review the housing needs in their areas and as part of this review are required to compile and update reliable information with a view to preparing their Local Housing Strategy.
A housing renewal area seeks to:
· make the area a place where people will choose to live;
· improve housing and general amenities of an area where social and environmental problems are combined with poor housing;
· develop partnerships between residents, the private sector and the local authority;
· support regeneration, including mixed use development, and
· increase confidence in the future of an area and through this help reverse any process of decline.
The Caerau Ward comprises two villages, Caerau to the North of the Ward, which is a Communities First Area and Nantyffyllon, an older settlement to the South. The two villages merged to become one Ward in 1999.
The area that has been the subject of this study was initially chosen by Bridgend County Borough Council from various published data as follows:
· Caerau Ward has a population of 7,026 and was identified as being the 2nd most deprived Ward in the County Borough (Census 2001) and as the most deprived Ward according to the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2005.
· Caerau Ward has 2,868 residential properties. The 1998 Welsh House Stock Condition Survey identified that 9.8% of occupied properties were unfit. The tenure mix of households within the Caerau Ward shows that 76% are owner occupied, 13% are rented from Housing Associations and 11% are rented from private landlords.
· 31% of the population of the Caerau Ward has a long-term limiting illness, 17% are permanently sick or disabled and 18% are in poor health. The Ward has a high number of people with no qualifications and low numeracy and literacy skills. (Census 2001)
The primary objective of the study was to determine the condition of the private housing stock in the Caerau Ward, including ascertaining whether the levels of disrepair, statutory unfitness and social need (disadvantage) fall within the criteria specified by the Assembly Government for declaration of a Renewal Area. It has also sought to build on the findings of the published data as above and to see if it can effectively contribute to support the overall regeneration of the area.
2. NEIGHBOURHOOD RENEWAL ASSESSMENT AREA
2.1 Location
The attached site plan of the Caerau Ward shows the overall boundary of the proposed housing renewal area.
2.2 Boundary
The proposed renewal area boundary should:
· be outward looking not just to delineate the housing within the area;
· encompass physical facilities which are related to the social, commercial and industrial functions of the area;
· be drawn with a view to identifying opportunities. Areas of vacant or derelict post industrial land should be considered for inclusion because of their development potential;
· include all pre 1919 housing;
· include the stock transfer estates of Caerau Park and Tudor Estate (both included in the V2C Estates Improvement Programme), Blaencaerau Estate;
· include all appropriate areas of poor environmental and amenity value.
2.3 Linkages to other Initiatives
There are a number of regeneration initiatives being undertaken in the Caerau Ward that complement the designation of a NRA. They include:
· Physical Regeneration Improvement agenda emerging from the Communities First process;
· V2C Pilot Estate Project (including the environmental improvement agenda into the WHQS initiative);
· the development of a new community focused school, and
· Youthworks provision.
3. MEETING THE CRITERIA FOR HOUSING RENEWAL AREA STATUS
The designation of a housing renewal area requires that the criteria laid down in the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, Welsh Office Circular 59/96 as amended in the Regulatory Reform Order on Housing Renewal dated July 2002 be met. The aim is to seek to confirm the high levels of unfitness and deprivation in the Caerau Ward as indicated by the 2001 Census and the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2005.
3.1 Property Inspection and Assessment
The first part of the data gathering exercise has sought to identify the households that require works for one or more of the purposes mentioned in sections 12, 17, 27, or 60 of the 1996 Housing Act.
Surveyors undertook a 100% external survey of properties in the proposed housing renewal area and a 10% sample internal inspection. The surveys confirmed that there were sufficient levels of disrepair throughout the survey area to bring the properties within the designated assessment criteria.
3.2 Socio-economic Household Survey
A parallel socio economic survey on a 20% sample was undertaken mainly by door to door interviews supported by a limited postal survey in the north of the Caerau Ward on the advice of the Communities First Partnership. In the south of the Ward a 100% postal survey was undertaken.
(It should be noted that the door to door survey was undertaken during the working day and those people found at home were mainly the elderly, the housebound and residents not at work).
4. SURVEY FINDINGS
The Survey was undertaken in two parts, the north of the Caerau Ward was surveyed from February 2006 to May 2006 and the south of the Ward (Nantyffyllon) between June and July 2006.
The Survey findings support the 2001 Census data and meet the current published Neighbourhood Renewal Assessment criteria for declaring an area for housing renewal. The survey findings and are summarised below.
4.1 External Inspection Survey
The external inspection found that the majority of disrepair was focused on replacement roof coverings and the poor maintenance of rainwater goods, external walls and boundary walls. It also found that:
· Repairs to a significant number of properties have replaced slate with concrete tile roof coverings that may (and probably will) exceed the safe weight limits of the existing timber roof structure. It is also anticipated that many properties will have inadequate or no party walls in the roof space, common in older terraced properties.
· The removal of chimneys was a consistent feature throughout the survey area being replaced with often poorly installed metal flues. The majority of retained chimney stacks require attention to flashings or pointing.
· The majority of the properties surveyed had 75%+ replacement UPVC double glazed windows and doors.
· Significant numbers of properties have boundary walls and retaining structures in need of repairs or rebuilding. (This will require a robust approach to the problems of the property boundaries to the rear lanes).
4.2 Internal Inspection Survey
The internal inspections found levels of internal disrepair that focused on observed and reported localised problems, such as damp associated with defective flashings, defective pointing or render, rising damp from ground water and inadequate associated drainage.
4.3 Energy Efficiency Survey
The survey found low levels of insulation in external walls in all pre-1919 terraced housing giving rise to condensation problems that are affecting people’s health, wellbeing and life styles. Internal inspection also identified that many gas heating installations are now more than 25 years old. Initial discussions have taken place with the leading agencies, including British Gas, the EAGA Partnership and Warm Wales with a view to establish schemes for improving properties that have been identified as having heating, insulation and other energy efficiency requirements in the Renewal Area.
4.4 Socio-economic Survey
The socio economic survey found high levels of deprivation throughout the survey area including significant reliance on benefits, high levels of sickness, disability and problems with mobility, high levels of property, vehicle and drug related crime and concerns about vandalism, anti-social behaviour and ‘fear of crime’ in specific locations.
The business survey demonstrated low levels of economic participation and lack of interest in business enterprise, social enterprises or new business activity.
The community group survey pointed to low levels of participation and social inclusion, combined with concerns about lack of opportunities and places for social interaction, especially for young people.
4.5 Environmental Survey
The streetscape survey showed an average of poor quality pavements and roads in a poor state of repair. It also identified poor access to amenity and green spaces and consistently high levels of day time on-street parking. Generally low levels of litter problems, vandalism and dog fouling were found. Caerau Road was noted as scoring the highest (poor to very poor on nearly all counts) with low quality to the buildings, the road and pavements, on-street parking and traffic speeds.
4.6 Housing Market Surveys
The housing market survey in north of the Caerau Ward suggests that the most popular segment of the private sector housing market is the investment property. Most properties priced at around £50,000 to £60,000 are sold as soon as they go onto the market, often destined for the private rented sector. This suggests that the north of the Caerau Ward is perceived as a place where “other” people are expected to live.
The housing market survey in the south of the Caerau Ward suggests that properties in good condition sell quickly at a price at around £100,000 for a 3 bed property. Many community buildings and high street shops have recently been converted into dwellings.
5 RECOMMENDATION
The study confirms high levels of property disrepair and social deprivation in the Caerau Ward and, as indicated by the 2001 Census, the area meets the requirements for the declaration of a renewal area.
The recommendation of the assessment is that Bridgend County Borough Council should declare Caerau Ward as a housing renewal area in accordance with the requirements of the Regulatory Reform Order 2002 that a housing renewal area is declared and the period for which the area should be a renewal area is for a minimum of 10 years.
6 APPROACH TO IMPLEMENTATION
6.1 Primary Proposals
The success of the housing renewal area programme will be measured critically on the extent of the repairs and improvement to the residential property. The Caerau Housing Renewal Area Strategy is a property/housing led initiative and it is only through this that environmental works can be funded and initiated.
Successful housing renewal areas rely on building sufficient confidence amongst local people to invest in home improvements, developing sufficient momentum to sustain investment by local residents in the property market, ensuring that local people have access to resources to participate. Public intervention must also be mindful of the commitment to social inclusion and equalities issues and to sustainable development.
Thus, the primary proposals focus on the following:
· maximising the investment in home improvements (e.g. by a focus on the external fabric, encouraging resident participation, securing support for vulnerable groups, ensuring added value / leverage for environmental works);
· ensuring a challenging but not over-ambitious programme of home improvements and a commitment to completing the whole project programme;
· a commitment to quality (e.g. implementing a robust building specification and design standards for the renewal area);
· ensuring resident participation and, where appropriate, their financial contribution to the renewal scheme (e.g. maximising income, maturity loans, credit union, etc);
· encouraging the engagement of vulnerable elderly and disabled people in home improvements and adaptations so as to ensure their capacity to remain at home leading independent lives (e.g. support from Bridgend Care and Repair Agency and other support organisations);
· a commitment to achieving best practice in home energy efficiency schemes (e.g. to promote the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (HEES) initiative and work with national energy agencies to address issues associated with fuel poverty);
· updating the design and layout of residential streets where necessary to improve residents’ safety including the strategic sighting of dropped kerbs to assist disabled mobility, improving the management of refuse and recycling collection and improving car parking capacity;
· a commitment to working with other tenure groups to secure the improvement of the public and private rented sector (this will involve integrating home improvements and energy efficiency schemes with the WHQS and V2C Estate Improvement Programme);
· linking in and complementing the wider regeneration agenda for the area to ensure that a strong physical social and economic base is created.
Measures of the success of the above will include:
(1) The number of properties that are improved.
(The renewal programme will have to carry out works to an average of some 200+ properties a year over 10 years assuming a typical take up at nominally 90%+ of eligible households. In the peak years 3 -5 the number of properties being repaired could rise to 300+)
(2) Participation levels by particular cohorts – for example, pensioners, disabled, frail elderly / vulnerable, private landlords, financially needy and BME. There could also be targets for Bridgend County Care & Repair /Credit Union / Social Enterprises
(3) The general movement in the level of house prices (above overall market trends)
(4) The proportion of private housing purchased for owner-occupation rather than as an ‘investment property’ for the rental market